green jobs

In the discussion around our energy future, fossil fuel advocates continually claim that renewables will never be able to meet our power needs. This assertion is a self-fulfilling prophecy. The more we choose to invest in fossil fuels over renewable energy, the longer we delay our inevitable...

Last week, I wrote about how strong majorities of Americans not only believe the climate is changing but also that human activity is causing it. Congressional inaction, therefore, ignores the priorities and concerns of the majority. However, while the oil and gas lobby does heavily influence...

A robust vice-presidential debate continued a noticeable trend in this election season: climate silence. As tracked by Climate Silence, a joint project of Forecast the Facts and Friends of the Earth Action, climate change has not been mentioned even once in either the Presidential or Vice-...

A new report by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) shows how investments in the green economy produce results far beyond sustainability gains. EPI took the BLS green jobs data and matched it with current employment trends. By doing so, they found:
Green industries grow faster than the overall...

Here’s what happens when partisan politics takes over policy making: a thriving industry comes to a screeching halt. In 2011, the wind industry was responsible for over 30 percent of all electric generation capacity added. The 6,800 megawatts added was a 31 percent increase over 2010 and...

An interesting proposal will be on the ballot this fall in Michigan. The measure, put forth by Michigan Energy, Michigan Jobs, would increase the state’s renewable energy requirement to 25 percent by 2025, more than double what it is today. The ballot measure would place this requirement in the...

One of the major barriers to renewable energy expansion is the unequal treatment renewables receive in tax credits and incentives. As we’ve highlighted, fossil fuels enjoy much more preferential treatment through permanent tax credits and incentives. Tax credits and incentives for renewables...

Data released last month by NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center shows that the 12-month period between May 2011- April 2012 was the warmest year to date since recordkeeping began in 1895. The first quarter of 2012 alone saw temperatures that were more than 5 degrees F above average. In...

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the first ever survey of green jobs today with some very promising numbers. In 2010, 3.1 million jobs were Green Goods and Services jobs (GGS) with 2.3 million in the private sector and 860,300 in the public sector. These numbers are even higher...

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: the House and Senate GOP plan to attach an amendment forcing the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline to a completely unrelated piece of legislation. This time around, it’s the transportation bill that is getting the Keystone amendment. While...